Which of these auto dark welding helmet would you recommend?

-Miller Pro Hobby.
-Lincoln Viking tribute.
-Jackson Halo X Boss.

I'm using the Miller-matic XLi, and love it!

i have a miller professional series, with 3 sensor payed 260 for it and the only flaw is the when flipping it down the adjusting lever (on the head band) doesn't stay in place and the helmet hits my nose. all else the helmet works great.

I have it on good authority that helmets offered by Miller and Lincoln are actually produced by a vendor in Korea. That's not to say they're not any good, they meet the specs established by Miller and Lincoln.

My choice would be Jackson's NexGen - still made in America, I think. My pal's USA made NexGen is several years old. I'm using my old flip down as my auto helmet died. So, I'm saving up for a good auto dark.......well, and an AR-15, a new Hayabusa and a trip to Tahiti and so on.

Hi,save your money,go buy a harbor freight helmet,it adjusts automatically to the brightness of the arc. ive used mine for over 4 years,no problems so far, i think i paid $49.95 for it,but,ive seen them on sale for $29.95...

I was wondering about those.....I am just a hobbiest and don't weld a whole lot, but I don't want holes in my retinas either.

__________________
Home Handyman Forum I Shade Tree Mechanic Forum

I have the Harbor Freight one.. Well worth the money.. $49.99,, But Like Mr.Bob said, They go on sale for less.. I use mine everyday.. No Problem's...

Seems this comes up every time auto dark helmets are mentioned and I can certainly understand the concern, BUT, not to worry! HF helmets are just as safe as anything else and the difference is in the quality of the headgear and the bells and whistles. Once again the safety of an auto dark helmet, be it HF or Jackson, has nothing to do with the electrics and these things are safe whether they go dark or not. A person using one does not receive UV/IR exposure during the time it takes for the lens to switch, blockage of these harmful rays are a function of the lens material and these rays are stopped before they even reach the electric part of the lens which filters out light in the visible spectrum. It's certainly a good thing to be concerned about the safety of anything especially when dealing with a person's eyes but in this case the HF helmets do a darn good job for the money but I would still suggest them only for home and hobby use. For pro welding and every day use the extra money spent on the pro helmets is money well spent, my personal favorite is the Jackson Next Gen series.

I have the Miller Pro-Hobby with variable shade lens. No complaints, except I don't like the gap between the shaded lens and clear protective lens on the front. When the clear lens gets a little scuff it is annoying. I never really noticed it on my old flip-up hood.

http://www.millerwelds.com/products...ts/prohobby.php

We've had a number of welding students at work go out and buy the Harbor Freight auto darkening hood. They all have been satisfied and have heard no complaints.

Thank you for the inputs!

I bought a like-new Jackson executive (extra large) autodark lens on Ebay for 41$ plus a brand new Jackson Halo X Blade Runner passive lense helmet for 49$ and some lense protection for 4$.

Before this I contacted Jackson customer service and made sure the executive lens would fit the Blade Runner helmet. Very good customer service, by the way!



So now I have a autodarkening, cool looking, US made 250$ helmet that I got for less than 100$...


It was the lense that made the deal. They usually cost app 120$

Nice helmet - Does it say Made In America?

Pity we cant find many tools made on this continent anymore (Sorry, I buy Canadian 1st, US second, Mexico 3rd....I start at home and move on to the neighbours...) everything is engineered here and manufactured overseas. Often, we don't have a choice.


When you are buying an auto darkening helmet, make sure there is at least 2 sensors. Don't let those from "high tech countries" (AKA Swiss) fool you. I have an optrel satellite, and the first one got returned due to an I'll fitting outer lens, and both 1st & second helmet had inner lenses that like d to fall out. (The inner lens groove is too sloppy and the lens bounces over the stop tabs and creeps off...good way for the odd spatter to ruin the glass)